Mayor of Middlesbrough
Chris Cooke (born 1990) is a British Labour Party politician. Since May 2023, he has been the directly elected Mayor of Middlesbrough.[1] By virtue of being Mayor of Middlesbrough, he is a member of the Tees Valley Combined Authority Board and the Cleveland Police and Crime Panel.
Early life
Cooke was born in 1990 in Middlesbrough, Cleveland, England.[2][3] He grew up in care.[1] He was educated at St Peter's Secondary School, a Catholic school in South Bank, Redcar and Cleveland.[2]
After school, Cooke began an apprenticeship at Laurence Jackson School in Guisborough as an IT technician. He remained at the school after completing his apprenticeship. Some time after being elected a councillor in 2019, he left his IT job and became a community cohesion co-ordinator at Streets Ahead, a charitable help and advice centre in Middlesbrough.[2]
Political career
On 2 May 2019, Cooke was elected as one of three councillors to represent the Newport Ward on Middlesbrough Council.[4]
Mayor of Middlesbrough
On 4 May 2023, he was elected Mayor of Middlesbrough with 10,956 votes, defeating the incumbent Andy Preston by 760 votes.[5]
Shortly after his election, Cooke expressed the need for a change of culture within Middlesbrough Council stating there to be “an adversarial culture between politicians and officers”.[6] He vowed the council he leads would become "a service-led organisation", and that children's social care would get his full focus.[7]
As Mayor of Middlesbrough, he is a member of the Tees Valley Combined Authority Cabinet.[8] He is also a member of the [[]].[9]
Personal life
Cooke is married to Julia Cooke, who serves a councillor on Middlesbrough Council.[2][10] He is a Christian.[2]
References
